


Look a Little Closer

by foldingcranes



Series: All These Things I've Done [5]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, McGenji - Freeform, Pre-Fall of Overwatch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-18 09:27:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13097196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foldingcranes/pseuds/foldingcranes
Summary: Jesse McCree doesn't believe there's a single soft bone in his boss' body.





	Look a Little Closer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DryDreams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DryDreams/gifts).



> MEOWY CHRISTMAS KATIE YEEHAW. Thank you, [Ju](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stuffy_j) and [Talli](http://hoozoo.tumblr.com/) for holding my hand and beta reading this for me. Love you dears <3.

When Jesse McCree gets recruited into Blackwatch, he doesn't know what to expect. Or, at least, he has a completely misguided perception of the whole organization and what it means to work in covert ops. He used to think he was pretty good at shooting, but Captain Amari blows his mind with her sniping skills and pushes him to be better and better with each lesson at the shooting range. There's Fareeha too, who isn't part of the organization, but she's the nearest person around who is closest to his own age, and they play board games and listen to music when Jesse is free and Fareeha is visiting. He gets to know everyone else better with time, and by snooping around and chattering at the cafeteria. That's how he finds out that Torbjorn absolutely loves soccer and that Reinhardt has the sickest fantasy novels, and is willing to share them with Jesse whenever he's bored.

It's not the life Jesse expected and it's completely different to everything he got used to during his time at Deadlock, and yes, he _does_ miss the freedom that his old life provided for him, but things are better now, and he's becoming his own useful person. A 'productive' member of society, someone who belongs to something bigger and better. Overwatch is changing and shaping the world in ways no one could have ever imagined and Jesse gets to be a part of _that_.

He's living the dream. He's going places. He's doing fucking amazing.

His commanding officer scares the living shit out of him.

The first time Jesse McCree saw Gabriel Reyes they were in a detainment room, and Jesse was cuffed to a chair. Reyes sat all the way across a metallic table, sprawled over a plastic chair, arms crossed. "Do you know who I am?" He asked.

Of fucking course Jesse knew who Gabriel Reyes was.

You don't defeat the robot apocalypse and end up completely anonymous. Especially if you are Gabriel Reyes from Los Angeles.

Jesse doesn't believe in heroes. In this tired, old world ravaged by war, he has stopped believing in them. Had.

Until Deadlock was shot to the ground and disbanded, and Gabriel Reyes sat in front of him with an offer so good it was impossible to reject. "You could join us, train and become one of our agents. Or you could rot in jail. Take your pick."

There was a challenge in those cold, calculating eyes. _Do you have what it takes to be of use?_

Jesse has never been able to resist a good challenge.

And here he is, now. Three meals every day. A soft, warm bed. Medical care. Real friendship, and a place to return at the end of the day. A sense of purpose.

Blackwatch has turned, for him, into a way of _life_ , something more than a simple job.

(Even if, Jesse suspects, it comes with no way out.)

-

So, here's the thing: when the new recruit arrives, just months after Jesse was recruited, he feels responsible for him. Genji has just been released from medical care after months of being rebuilt and then getting used to his new body, wounds of the heart still fresh as physical scars settle all over him.

Jesse guides him around the facilities and talks to him about everything and everyone, Blackwatch and Overwatch. 

Then, careful and suspicious, Genji asks the golden question: "What do you make of Commander Reyes?"

Well.

Jesse snorts. "He's a total hardass."

"Really," Genji deadpans.

"Yeah, I mean, I bet the guy eats nails for breakfast. That's how tough he is."

He's been on a couple of missions with Commander Reyes already and, well, he lives up to his name. The man's ruthless and absolutely brilliant, and able to take over like ten guys without even breaking a sweat.

Okay, maybe he's suffering from a little bit of hero worship. But the truth is that Jesse doesn't think he has seen Commander Reyes relax, ever. Not that he sees him that often out of working hours. Everyone has a life, he guesses. Even Reyes.

That's when he starts noticing things. It's subtle at first, and it catches Jesse off guard-- they are wrapping up a mission in Sarajevo, sweaty and tired after a hostage situation that got a little out of hand. Reyes is driving their transport on the way to the dock when he stops so they can take a break, take a piss, have a smoke and maybe eat something. Then, Reyes himself leaves the car, eyeing the little shops that litter the street where they've parked, and without a word, goes inside a souvenir shop and stays there for the next twenty minutes as everyone is grateful for their blessed free time.

By the time he's back, there's a snowglobe in his hand, a small, snowy miniature version of Sarajevo’s Bascarsija. Jesse blinks at that, straightening a little in his seat. "Whatcha got there, boss?"

Reyes, yawns, putting the snowglobe in a paper bag. He stores it one of the car's compartments and hops in, hands going to the car's handle. "None of your business, McCree," he grumbles.

There's a small smile on his face.

Jesse is, obviously, a little intrigued. He wouldn't have pinned Reyes as the type of guy who would collect souvenirs or other types of touristy shit, considering he's been all over the world thanks to his military career. He eventually falls asleep with his head on Genji's shoulder, and dreams of snow and building tiny snowmen.

As he drifts into sleep, he thinks he hears Reyes hum to the tune of Rack City.

Must have been his imagination.

-

The next time Jesse notices Reyes being weird, they are trapped in a Blackwatch safehouse on the outskirts of Moscow. Outside, the rain pours so intensely it's hard to see more than a couple of steps ahead, and the temperature has dropped so much that Jesse can't stop his teeth from chattering, which in turn has been annoying Genji and has prompted him into exiling himself to the farthest corner of the room. Most of the agents are fast asleep, except for him and Reyes, who's currently sitting on a dusty couch and trying to phone HQ despite not having proper phone reception.

After almost an hour of not having any success, Jesse sees Reyes throw his hands up in the air in a gesture of clear, frustrated surrender, and then slump moodily on the couch. He thinks about teasing him, maybe some remark about how he looks like an oversized toddler, but Reyes picks up his mobile again, holding the main button with his thumb.

“I hope this message reaches you,” he hears Reyes say. “We’ll be stuck here until the snowstorm ends and phone reception so far has been shitty, so I don’t know when will I be able to actually call you,” he sighs. “I saw this really, really stupid snowglobe and thought of you. I may buy it when I have the chance, I don’t think you have this one.”

There’s a pause, and then, his voice comes out softer than Jesse has ever heard.

“I’ve been missing you all day,” Reyes lowers his voice, like he’s confessing a secret. “I know this mission has been a short one, but I was away before this one for a long fucking while and I’m starting to feel all itchy. I miss you so fucking much. I want to be with you. I hope you are sleeping. I hope you aren’t killing yourself with work.”

He huffs, chuckling gently “Can’t wait to go home and see you, and eat some decent food.”

Feeling like an intruder at the sudden wave of longing in Reyes’ voice, Jesse tries to go back to sleep.

-

Their next mission has them spending a whole fucking month in Watchpoint La Paz. Most of the agents have to deal with altitude sickness for the first week, including Jesse and Genji. They sleep, curled up on the floor, leaning against each other’s shoulder, chewing on coca leaves and staying as still as possible to avoid dizziness.

Reyes walks around like nothing fucking fazes him, though he gets crankier and crankier as the mission drags on. The longer they spend in Bolivia, the more somber he seems to become. Jesse sees him smile once, at the outside of yet another silly souvenir shop. He goes in and leaves with a paper bag.

That entire month in La Paz feels like fucking torture, and by the end of it, everyone is desperate to go home. When their plane lands on the tarmac at Watchpoint Gibraltar, Jesse has to hold Genji by the shoulders to make sure he doesn’t faceplant onto the floor from tiredness as soon as he unbuckles his seatbelt. Genji grumbles at him, but allows him to touch him, and Jesse’s stomach flutters with pleasant warmth at being trusted like that by Genji, who’s been living inside walls of his own making since he joined Blackwatch. 

They leave the plane languidly, followed by the rest of the exhausted agents. Only Gabriel is walking fast and buzzing with energy. Jesse sees him stand in front of Strike Commander Morrison, who arrived just a couple of minutes ago. 

He’s smiling from ear to ear, settling a hand on Reyes’ shoulder and telling him something that Jesse can’t quite hear with the loud turbines still shutting down behind him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Reyes smile and laugh.

-

“All right,” Angela says as she takes her thermometer out of Jesse’s mouth. “All done, Jesse! You can go now, you’re as good as new. I think Genji mentioned he’d wait for you at the cafeteria.”

“Did he?” Jesse raises an eyebrow at that. Angela chuckles.

“Well, I told him to do that. I don’t want him to eat alone,” she pats his shoulder and opens a drawer to get some candy, then drops it in Jesse’s hand as if he were a _kid_. “Also, can you go tell Commander Reyes to stop by here? This is the third time he’s skipped medical.”

“Sure,” Jesse unwraps the candy with eager hands, stomach rumbling with hunger. “Where is he right now?”

“Commander Morrison’s office, I believe,” Angela hums. “It’s lunch break, after all.”

Jesse frowns, wondering what relation exists between his commander’s lunch break and visiting the Strike Commander’s office. Finally, he shrugs, asks Angela for more candy and leaves the medbay to fulfill her request so he can go grab lunch with Genji.

When he reaches Commander Morrison’s office he knocks twice without any success, then sticks his ear to the door to see if anyone’s there. He hears voices and, annoyed, he knocks again. No one answers.

Finally, hungry and impatient, he decides to open the door anyway. 

And sure enough, there they are: Commander Morrison is sitting on his desk, his usual exemplary appearance ruined with his uniform being in a state of complete disarray and hickies on his neck, his hair messy and face flushed. Commander Reyes is standing between his legs and helping him fix his clothes as they kiss softly. Shocked, Jesse makes a squeaky noise that ends up grabbing Commander Reyes’ attention, and he turns towards him with a smirk on his face.

“Are you lost, McCree?”

“N-No, sir,” Jesse swallows thickly, “I was just--” his eyes falls on Reyes’ hand and how it rests on top of Morrison’s chest, a golden glint on one of his fingers. A wedding band.

 _Oh_. Jesse wants to slap himself. Why didn’t anyone tell him his commanders were fucking _married_?

Morrison coughs awkwardly, face and neck completely flushed. “Agent McCree, if you would be nice enough to leave?”

Dazed, Jesse nods slowly. As he closes the door, he watches Reyes nuzzle Morrison’s neck, arms wrapping around his waist in an affectionate hug. To avoid looking at that intimate display of affection as he fumbles with the door, Jesse looks past them and that’s-- that’s when he notices _them_. 

The snowglobes. 

Commander Morrison has a shelf filled with silly snowglobes from all around the world.

It all makes sense now.

Grinning, Jesse rushes towards the cafeteria, eager to gossip about his discovery with Genji. He can’t wait to tell him how much of a big _softie_ he has discovered his commander to be.

**Author's Note:**

> [Yell at me!](https://twitter.com/foldingcranes)


End file.
